Can't wait any longer
by inkydoo
Summary: Vash is conflicted between his ideals and his need to protect the ones he loves. Will Knives force him to choose? postanime, VxM, review!
1.

Okay guys, I'm in denial that I saw the closing credits. Vash has not come back yet, and Meryl's flipping out.

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_Routine report:_

_Vash the Stampede, the wanted outlaw with the bounty of $$60,000,000,000 on his head, is still missing. It has been two weeks since the gunman severed ties and walked into the desert, and Millie and I have been trying our hardest to reestablish contact. I know that his leaving was of the utmost importance, but I am not sure if he will return like he said he would. I don't know if I can go on knowing that he might be dead somewhere in the desert, especially with the knowledge that I haven't told him how I feel. I'm such a coward..._

Meryl stared outside the window and let her thoughts drift for a moment before realizing she was supposed to be working. She had to send in a report or she and Millie wouldn't get paid. The problem was there wasn't very much to write about with Vash gone...and she kept zoning out when she wrote, hopeful that Vash would return, yet fearful of the possibility she would never see her goofy gunman again.

She turned back to the table and read over what she had written. "God, NOT AGAIN!" She tore the paper out of the typewriter and crumpled it into a little ball as she tossed it behind her to the overflowing wastebasket. This, unfortunately, was something Meryl had grown to expect out of herself. "Damnit, Meryl, CONCENTRATE. If you don't write, you don't get paid!" She was speaking harshly to herself.

She picked up the coffee cup filled with cold, stale brown water and walked to the sink to pour it out. She refilled the cup with hot coffee and held it in her hands. When she looked down at the reflective surface of the liquid, all she saw were floating thoughts of Vash.

After quite a while, she realized she was again holding another cup of cold coffee. She threw the liquid down the sink again in disgust. She poured another cup and vowed to drink this one. Returning to the table, she put in a clean sheet of paper. Her nails started tapping on the table with anxiety and built up tension. It had been two weeks since she last saw Vash and she had expected him to be back by now. Thoughts of his dead corpse baking under the two suns were plaguing her and all she wanted to do was go out in the direction that he went and find him and bring him back. She didn't care if he had succeeded or not. She just wanted him back in town with her. She just wanted him safe.

Then she remembered what had happened the last time she decided to follow him when he had told her to stay put. The horrible impact that Legato's death had on Vash was clearly her fault. If she hadn't been so rash, she wouldn't have followed him and he wouldn't have had to kill Legato.

She sighed, knowing deep in her heart that Legato would have forced Vash's hand whether or not she had been present. There was nothing she could have done to protect Vash at that moment in time.

She looked out the window again, hoping to catch a glimpse of that spiky-haired bafoon walking over the dunes toward the little house she and Millie were still renting.

"What if he's run out of water...What if he's lost in the desert somewhere..." She knew Vash the Stampede didn't get lost, but her anxiety was getting the best of her. After two weeks of frantic worry and no sleep, Meryl was just this side of losing it. "What if he just doesn't want to come back?"

She immediately pushed this thought out of her mind. Truth be told, she would rather him be dead than him not want to see her again. She gasped at her thought and looked down at the table.

She started talking to herself again. "Clearly, Meryl, this waiting game isn't working out for you...what are you going to do?"

She suddenly slammed her fist down on the table as if she were reaffirming her role in life. "This is what I'm going to do: I'm going to ride out into the desert on a Thomas and do some investigating. It's my job!" Ahh...the old excuse, like a well-worn security blanket.

Quickly, she pounded out some words on the typewriter in a daze before going around the house collecting canteens and travel gear. Millie would be home soon and Meryl would need her help.

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When Millie got back home from work, she was greeted with a very agitated Meryl wearing her desert cloak on the front steps of the house. "What's wrong Meryl?"

"Millie, we've got to go look for Vash. I just can't wait here any longer. I can't sit here waiting with nothing to do but think of the horrible things that could have happened to him."

"But, Meryl, it's dangerous. He told us to stay here."

"I just want to ride out an hour or two and see if he's on his way back. I need this Millie." She looked at her friend, grabbed her hands, and pleaded. "Millie, I've got to know if something has happened to him." Sensing her friend was wavering, she decided to beg a little, which was very uncommon of Meryl. "PLEASE! We've got enough sunlight to make it out and back tonight. Please help me." She lowered her gaze.

Millie looked down at her desperate friend. "I'll only go if you PROMISE me that we will only ride out for an hour or two, and that if we do find him, you'll tell him how you feel." She smiled a little at herself.

Meryl swallowed a lump in her throat as her friend's words hit her, but she realized it was a small price to pay to have the piece of mind she needed. She looked down at her shoes. "I promise. I will tell him when I find him."

Millie jumped, clapping her hands together. "YAY! Okay let me get my canteen and I'll be right out."

Meryl sighed, relieved that her friend wasn't trying to stop her. She brought the thomases around to the front and loaded her equipment and water bottles onto the beast. Soon both insurance girls were mounted on their thomases like old times and were making their way out of town in the direction Vash had gone.

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Vash was walking through the desert with his injured brother on his shoulder. He knew he was going to get into town soon, but would probably not make it in today. He started searching for a suitable place to make camp for the night. In the morning, he could start out again and make it into town by nightfall. Then he would have a chance to see Millie and he would take the opportunity to have a very important discussion with Meryl...

In the distance, he could just make out two travelers on thomasback. They were riding in his direction. This was fortunate. Perhaps he could purchase some water from them.

As they rode closer, he saw that their sizes resembled two very nosy insurance girls he had grown to care about over the past few years, but with their travel gear on, he couldn't make out what they actually looked like. All he could see was a giant rider and a tiny one, and he was instantly reminded of old times.

As they rode even closer, he saw that they were riding towards him. He didn't have his gun, so he felt a little vulnerable, but he figured everything would be ok. He shouted out "HELLO!!!" very loudly and friendly and waved his free arm. The voice that returned his greeting was very familiar...unsettlingly familiar. Was that...Millie?

The speeding thomases slowed to a halt right in front of Vash and his brother. "Hello Mr. Vash! We were so worried about you! It's good to see you're ok. Who is that? Oh my! He's injured!" Millie hopped off her Thomas and ran towards Vash. "Let me help you! We can put him on my thomas and I can ride him into town. You ride with Meryl." Despite Vash's half-hearted attempts at a protest, Millie successfully lifted Knives off of Vash's shoulder and put him over the thomas. "See you back at the house, Mr. Vash!" she said as she rode off towards town.

Vash was a little dumbstruck at the sudden turn of events. He looked at the small woman who had removed the hood from her traveling cloak. "Meryl..." he breathed, then suddenly got frustrated. "Meryl! What did I tell you?! Stay in town, where it's safe! I told you I was coming back!" He ran a hand through his hair and then let it drop out of frustration. "What if something had happened to you! I would never forgive myself!" He recoiled as the small woman slid off her thomas and made her way towards the gunman.

"Vash, you pompous ass! Did you really expect me to be able to stay in town and WAIT to find out if you were dead or not?" He suddenly realized how exhausted she looked. "I was worried sick about you! I thought maybe you had died...maybe that you didn't want to come back..." She looked down at her feet. "I thought that I would never see you again..."

Vash automatically took a step closer to her. He wanted to put his arms around her, but a sudden excruciating cramp in his right shoulder caused him to crumple in pain. Meryl looked up. "Vash! What's wrong!"

"I'm...okay..." Vash sucked air through his teeth. "I just have some injuries from the fight."

"Oh, oh, of course." She walked to her thomas and pulled out a bottle of pills and a water canteen. She counted out a few pills and forced them on Vash. "Here, take these. They will help with the pain."

He took the pills and completely drained the canteen. He was almost completely refreshed after drinking the water. "Thanks," he said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I needed that." He was smiling at her, and she was smiling at him.

Suddenly Meryl realized what was going on and straightened herself. "We should be going back. I'll have to help Millie with caring for your brother. Come on." She walked towards the thomas. Before she knew it, Vash was mounted and he was lifting her up to sit in front of him. She blushed furiously, but was grateful that her back was to Vash.

"Okay, let's go home," Vash said quietly as he pulled his arms around her.


	2. 

It was dark before Vash and Meryl made it back to the house. Vash had long since assumed the reigns of the thomas, and since he didn't have much luck with any mode of transportation going at a high rate of speed, especially thomases, he slowed down the pace and enjoyed the cool evening with Meryl in his arms. He looked down at the small woman in front of him, who was snuggled into his chest and had been asleep for almost an hour.  
  
"You know, I thought about you every day when I was out there." He was whispering so he wouldn't wake her up. "I thought about coming back to you all the time..." She leaned into him as he wrapped one arm tighter around her waist. "I promise I will never let anything hurt you." Why were these things so easy to say when she was unconscious?  
  
He sighed and looked up at the sky. He thought about his unconscious brother who Millie had already taken to the house. Vash knew that Millie had most likely cleaned up the injured man and bandaged his wounds. Vash silently made a promise to himself. This was Knives' last chance. If he tried to hurt any more innocents, there would be hell to pay...  
  
Vash saw the world go blue and realized it was time to calm down. The last thing he wanted was for Meryl to wake up and see him going all "Diablo" on her. Something about the fight with Knives had changed him. While he felt relief at being reunited with his brother, he also felt a rising responsibility. Vash would always remember Rem, but it was time for him to move on. It was time for him to live for himself. That meant amending some of his most strongly held tenets of faith. He looked down at Meryl again. He had killed for this woman. He had killed to protect this woman, and he knew deep in his heart that he would do it again if he had to, and this time, without a second thought. It was true he had no right to take the life of another, but he also had no right to let someone else decide the fate of millions of humans on a whim. And he couldn't stand the thought of Knives hurting the few people who had actually accepted him as simply Vash...  
  
He couldn't allow Knives to follow through with his plan, and if it meant making the ultimate sacrifice and killing Knives so that those he loved would be safe, then he would do it. "I hope it doesn't come to that...but whatever happens, I will survive..." In his sadness, he sounded a little less lost than usual.   
  
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Millie waived from the porch as she saw Mr. Vash and Meryl approach on the slow moving thomas. Maybe Meryl had taken the extra time to tell Mr. Vash how she felt. She was so excited!  
  
On closer inspection, she saw that Meryl was asleep, so the chances that she had come clean to Mr. Vash were now a lot lower. Still...This was the first time Millie had seen Meryl sleep in two weeks, and that was good any way you looked at it.  
  
Millie sighed to herself. "Meryl, you are not going to break this promise. You are going to tell Mr. Vash how you feel!"

She walked back inside to heat up dinner. Mr. Vash probably hadn't had a decent meal the entire time he was away! That saddened Millie, but she was sure glad he was back at home.

She guessed that the stranger had to be some sort of relative because of the strong resemblance, and she went about caring for his wounds and making sure he was comfortable. He was still unconscious, and hadn't stirred at all since she had gotten him into the house.

Millie was being bad. She knew there were only three beds in the house, and she put the stranger in Mr. Vash's room. That meant that Mr. Vash was either going to have to sleep with her (which was NOT going to happen), or Meryl was going to have to share her room with him. Millie was pleased as punch with this arrangement, having watched her smaller counterpart pine away for the entire two weeks (and we're talking the whole 336 hours) that Mr. Vash had been away.

As Vash entered the house with the sleeping Meryl, Millie kept quiet. Only after he had put her to bed in her room and closed the door did she say anything.

"Mr. Vash, you must be starving! Come have something to eat. Did you get any injuries when you were in the fight?"

Vash nodded. "I have a few wounds in my shoulder, but it's not too big a deal."

"Oh, I don't know. You want those to heal right. Shoulders are very important. That's what my big big brother always told me. After dinner, you should take a shower and I'll bandage them up for you."

Ahh...a shower would have been heaven for Vash. He was becoming soft in his old age. He used to be a purely desert creature, surviving the elements on sheer determination alone, but since he had traveled with the girls, he spent a lot more time in the towns than he used to, and that meant he was growing very attached to certain amenities...such as running water...and refrigeration...and roofs...

Millie's voice drug Vash's thought away from all the fine things he had come to enjoy over the last few years. "So Mr. Vash! Did Meryl tell you?" She looked at him innocently.

"Did she tell me what?" He looked at her with a confused, yet curious expression on his face.

"Oh, I have a feeling you'd know if she told you." Meryl was such a chicken!

Before Vash could ask again, Millie had already changed the subject. "So, how is this man related to you!"

Vash's jaw almost dropped. Did she know about Knives? Millie sensed Vash's surprise and said, "Oh, Mr. Vash, really, you look just alike. Are you cousins?"

"We're...brothers." He didn't want to tell Millie about his brother right now, so he wolfed down his food and put his hand on his tummy. "Gee Millie, that sure was good! I think I should take a shower before I get too tired!"

With that, he made his exit and started for the bathroom.


	3. 

Vash walked into his old room to find his duffle bag. He hadn't taken it with him because he hadn't needed spare clothes where he was going. He pulled out his trusty pajama bottoms and a short sleeved, black undershirt. He liked Millie a lot, but he didn't want her looking at his scars. The only person he really felt comfortable showing those to was Meryl. The sleeveless shirt would allow her access to the most prominent injuries. He could get Meryl to bandage the other ones tomorrow.

He silently looked over his sleeping brother. Knives didn't deserve to be taken care of. He didn't deserve a bed. He didn't deserve the kindness of the insurance girls. Old animosity stirred in Vash as he forced himself to leave the room.

Once in the bathroom, he quickly locked himself inside. He didn't know what he was running from, but he was, for once, actually glad to be alone. He started the water in the shower and took off his clothes. After the water ran hot, he got in and sat down in the tub with his elbows on his knees and his hands holding up his tired head. He let the water pelt him from above, and he thought about just what he was going to do with Knives...

After about five minutes, he decided he'd wasted enough water and stood up to actually start cleaning off the two weeks worth of sand that had accumulated over his body. He scrubbed himself with soap, taking extra care not to aggravate any open wounds, and looked down at the dirty water swirling around the drain. "Yikes," he said as he laughed at himself for the reaction. He was actually surprised his injuries weren't infected with all that dirt that had been caked in them. Meryl would have killed him if she'd seen this.

Despite the fact that in the last week he had probably saved the entire human population of Gunsmoke, he only allowed himself ten minutes in the shower, and that was twice as long as he usually took. Getting out, he dried off and somehow managed to get dressed without causing too much pain to his injured shoulder. He brushed his teeth for the first time in two weeks (he was so thankful to still have teeth...) and he felt like a completely different person. For just a moment, he felt all his stress away as he went downstairs to have Millie bandage his wounds. He was back with the girls, Knives was under control, and at this moment, he felt free to actually rest.


	4. 

"GAAA!" Vash let out a little horror filled shriek at Millie's suggestion. "Do...do you think that would be...okay?" Honestly, what was she thinking?

"Oh Mr. Vash, of course it will be okay! She's got the biggest bed in the house, and she's the smallest person, too! You'll be much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor, and you're certainly not sleeping with me! My bed is just my size." She smiled at him innocently.

Upon returning to the house, he had completely forgotten about sleeping arrangements. Now he remembered that bringing a new person to the house created a sudden shortage of beds. He suddenly wished they had a couch...or a spare cot...or ANYTHING! Meryl was going to kill him in the morning! Millie seemed to think it was a grand idea, but Vash wasn't so sure about that.

"Oh Mr. Vash! Lighten up! I bet if you stay on your side of the bed, everything will be fine. And this is really the first time Meryl has actually slept since you left in the first place! I think she really likes having you back." Vash raised an eyebrow at this bit of information.

"Millie?" he asked shyly, a little apprehensive of her answer. "Did she really worry about me when I was gone?"

Perfect innocence lit her eyes. "Oh my, yes, Mr. Vash! She was terribly worried! She couldn't even write any reports!" Millie was feeling a little guilty for being so honest with Vash about her friend's agony over the past two weeks, but Millie was determined to push these two together, whether they liked it or not. After all, it was for their own good. She was not about to let their shyness get in the way of their happiness. "Did you miss her?"

"Yes, I did miss her," he said sincerely, his eyes looking out into space. When he saw the hopeful look in Millie's eyes, he caught himself. "Umm, I mean, I missed you both! Can't be without my insurance girls, now can I!"

Millie caught the lapse and was satisfied that everything would work out between Mr. Vash and Meryl. She stretched like a kitten, and through a loud yawn she said, "Oh boy! I'm sleepy. I'll see you in the morning!" With that, she left Vash in the kitchen as he helplessly looked at Millie's back.

Pep talk time: "Alright, alright. Everything is ok. Millie got my shoulder patched up, my little insurance girl is upstairs, my brother's taken care of for the time being, and everything is alright. Who knows...maybe Meryl won't mind so much..." He made his way towards Meryl's room. Thinking again, he went to the linen closet and grabbed an extra blanket and a pillow. He was going to try the floor first.

He walked into Meryl's room and spread the blanket on the floor. He put the pillow down and tried to get comfortable. No dice. The hard wood forced his metal implants to dig into his skin and his back was killing him. This was going to be a long night if he planned on staying down there. He rolled over and a little ball of paper came into his view. He picked it up and unwrapped it, reading what it said in disbelief:

_Routine Report:_

_Vash the Stampede has been gone for 10 days now. We have not been able to establish contact, and I'm beginning to get worried. I thought he would be back by now. I didn't know I would miss him this much, but now all I want is for him to come back to me. I think I_

The letter was unfinished. He looked around and saw the wastebasket behind the door. It looked like Meryl had been working on inventing a new sport. There were so many crumpled pieces of paper. As quietly as he could, he moved over to the wastebasket and started uncrumpling page after page after page. He couldn't stop reading. He dug down to the bottom of the bin and pulled one out.

_Routine report:_

_Vash the Stampede, the Humanoid Typhoon, walked out of our house and into the desert today. I don't know if I'll ever see him again. I don't know what I will do without him._

Another one found its way into Vash's hand:

_Routine report:_

_We've been awaiting for contact from Vash the Stampede for 12 days now. While contact has not been established, I believe it is our duty to remain in the area until we hear from him again. We have been charged with his assignment, and we will not return until we have established contact again. I can't leave him alone while he faces his greatest enemy. I have to see him again._

Vash's mind was swimming with guilt. Millie had been right. He had read some of Meryl's reports and they were all business, nothing like these. Plus, they were usually ten pages long. These were barely even paragraphs. There were so many...he never thought she would miss him like this. But he had to face his brother. He had to face him so Vash could return and have hope for a peaceful life. He picked up one more paper. He read it and realized it was from today.

_Routine report:_

_Vash the Stampede, the wanted outlaw with the bounty of $$60,000,000,000 on his head, is still missing. It has been two weeks since the gunman severed ties and walked into the desert, and Millie and I have been trying our hardest to reestablish contact. I know that his leaving was of the utmost importance, but I am not sure if he will return like he said he would. I don't know if I can go on knowing that he might be dead somewhere in the desert, especially with the knowledge that I haven't told him how I feel. I'm such a coward..._

She hadn't told him...how she feels? Maybe this is what Millie had been talking about... Suddenly, Vash wasn't so concerned about Meryl hitting him. He just wanted to be close to her. He grabbed the blanket and the pillow off the floor and as he walked towards her bed, he noticed a piece of paper still in her typewriter. It had one sentence written on it:

_I love Vash the Stampede and I'm going to find him today._

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Meryl awoke with a start. Where was Vash? When had she gotten into bed? Who had taken off her shoes? Where was her cape with her derringers? And what was in her hand? She looked over to see spiky blond hair poking out from under an old blanket. She stopped thinking and looked over his calm face. His arm was extended, and he was holding her hand while he slept...


	5. 

"Hmm..." Vash sighed. There was a scent that smelled faintly like perfume...or shampoo. He must be having one of _those_ dreams again. He didn't even bother opening his eyes. He just moved his head down and buried his face in between Meryl's neck and shoulder.

"Vash, what are you doing?" Meryl asked sleepily.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm just dreaming..." His fingers started to softly caress her skin with no particular goal in mind.

"Oh...I see... What are you dreaming about?" she asked him.

He laughed a little. "You, silly." He felt his fingers trailing up Meryl's thigh as his hand made contact with the bottom of her skirt. He heard a sharp intake of breath and smiled against her neck.

"Um, that's funny," Meryl said nervously, "because I could swear that I'm awake..."

_What?_

His eyes flew open to see Meryl lying next to him with her back to him. _This was real_. As fast as he could, he pulled his arms off of Meryl and put his head under his cover. "I am so so so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Oh my god, I can't believe I did that. Please forgive me." He was mumbling into his pillow.

Meryl could see how embarrassed he was and now she felt really bad. She had actually been enjoying herself... She pushed the thought out of her mind as she ducked her head under the blanket to try to calm him down. "Vash, it's ok." She put her hand lightly on his back. "What are you doing in here?"

"Millie told me it would be okay...plus, I tried the floor and it was just uncomfortable." Vash lifted his head off of his pillow to look at the girl who was so close to him. How did this happen? He realized he was still on his side. Why was she under his blanket with him?

Was Millie playing match-maker? "Vash, it's okay! No harm done!" She was blushing at how close the two of them were. "We'll figure out something for tonight..." She started thinking about the previous situation. Shyly, she asked, "So, um, how often do you have dreams about me?" She didn't think she could possibly blush anymore than she was.

Meryl...wasn't going to kill him? He looked at her and let out a huge breath of air. He was blushing pretty badly and couldn't help smiling. But, he figured, one good tease deserved another. "Um...I don't know...a while I guess. So how long have you been writing your boss love letters about me?"

Meryl gasped. "What!" She pulled her head out from under the blanket and saw all her tight little balls of paper spread out as neatly as possible on the floor. She groaned with embarrassment. She had to get out of here. She threw the blanket off of her and tried to move, but Vash had grabbed her arm.

"Wait Meryl, I didn't mean to embarrass you." She let him pull her close again. "Please don't leave."


	6. 

They were sitting in the dark on the bed, the blanket still around Vash. They both looked at each other, Vash holding on to Meryl like she might fly out of the room. For a moment, Meryl thought she could die happy just looking into those aqua eyes with that blond, floppy hair falling around his face. Vash spoke up nervously. "Umm...I think...we need...to talk."

Oh no. Meryl was sure this was going to be the final blow. Vash had read all her "love letters." Vash knew how she felt. He was probably going to tell her that he was going to leave, and it was because of her. Unknowingly, tears started forming in the corners of her eyes. She had been so angry at herself for not telling him how she felt, and now he knew and didn't care. She was so concerned with the thought of Vash rejecting her that she didn't even realize when he pulled her close and wrapped her up in the blanket with him.

He whispered in her ear. "Meryl, I'm sorry I embarrassed you. Please don't cry. I was just joking."

She flew off the handle. "That's the problem with you! You're always joking! Nobody ever takes me seriously! I just got you back and now you're going to leave me again!" She was sobbing now, her head on his chest, her fists clutching the material of his shirt.

_What?_ "Shhhh....What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere." He ran his hands through her hair. "Don't say things like that. You know if I didn't have you, I don't know what I would do." She stopped crying and looked up at him in disbelief. "I missed you so much when I was away. I told you this earlier, but you were...um...asleep..." He blushed. "All I could think about was getting back to you and telling you everything."

"Everything?" she asked shyly.

"Yes." He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. He suddenly looked sad. "But, if you don't want to have anything to do with me, then I'll understand."

"What? Why would I not want to have anything to do with you?"

"Because of a lot of things, but mostly because of my brother. He's going to wake up eventually. I will never let him hurt you, and that is a promise I will always keep, but I understand if you decide to leave. I don't want him playing mind games with you and Millie. Especially Millie." Both of them silently thought back to Wolfwood's death. "I don't want her anywhere near him."

Meryl cupped his face in her hands. "Vash, you know I would never leave you. You need my help, and I need to be with you." She raised her eyebrow at him and sarcastically asked, "I mean, did you actually _read_ those reports, or did you just decide to tidy up last night?" She was getting her sense of humor back, which was always a good thing.

Vash gave her a look of utter appreciation. No one had ever been so steadfast in their care for him. He couldn't think of anything to say that could adequately convey his gratefulness, so he just told her the truth. "God, Meryl, I love you so much."

Meryl didn't know what it felt like when someone's heart exploded from happiness, but hers seemed to be doing just that. She was positively beaming. The rational side of her brain managed to ask, "Are...are you serious?"

Vash smiled. "I hope you know I wouldn't lie about something so important."

She threw her arms around his neck. She was pulling on Vash's bandages, causing him a little discomfort, but it really wasn't that painful, especially considering how happy he was. "Meryl, whatever happens, I'll always love you and I'll never let anything hurt you. I promise."

Vash could have said anything at this moment and she would have been fine with it. "Okay! That's great! I love you, too!"

-----------------------------------

They talked for a few hours about all things Vash and Meryl. By the time they got to the topic of Knives, the suns were already rising.

"So...you're telling me that he can read minds..." Meryl looked at Vash with a bit of disbelief.

"Yes, and he can also move things with his mind, so you have to watch out for that, too." Vash looked concerned.

Meryl's thoughts were on a slightly different path. "Umm...so...can you read my mind?" She suddenly felt very self conscious.

"Technically, yes. But...don't worry. I haven't. I mean...It's not like I've never wanted to..." he said with a smile. "It's just that I don't. It's not right to invade other people's thoughts. I will need to show you how to block your thoughts before he wakes up so he can't use you when he comes to. He has a nasty habit of trying to brainwash people."

"Oh my god! You have to show Millie, too!" She looked a little frantic.

Vash laughed. "Of course I'll show Millie." He looked very serious. "Meryl, I don't know how to tell Millie about Knives. I don't want to have to tell her that he is the one who ordered Wolfwood's death...but I have a feeling if we don't tell her, Knives could use it to his advantage... I don't know what to do about it."

"Don't worry. I'll tell her. We need to stick together and keep each other safe."

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A/N: Um...I hope this didn't suck. BUT HEY! That's what reviews are for!


	7. 

Millie woke up at her usual time. She sat quietly in bed. She didn't hear any screaming, crying, or pain-enduced whimpering. "Wonderful! Meryl and Mr. Vash must be getting along!" She walked into the bathroom to get ready for work.  
  
Millie hummed as she went through her morning ritual. She had been keeping herself pretty busy. Her team was ahead of schedule on the well (they had already reached the vein) and now the crew was digging irrigation canals to make agriculture possible. This was very exciting, and she was happy that the town appreciated her work so much. In fact, after reaching the water vein, the whole crew got a big bonus and the store owner even gave them a bunch of food credits. It was a good thing, too, because after Vash left to fight Knives, Meryl had a...mishap... A group of men in the bar were badmouthing Vash and Meryl punched one of them in the face. If it hadn't been for Millie arriving at exactly that moment with her stungun, Meryl would have been in a lot of trouble. The two women decided maybe Meryl needed a little vacation from the saloon.  
  
Millie shook her head at the memory and smiled. Those guys were completely taken aback by the tiny woman's behavior. Meryl was so defensive of Vash.  
  
Millie went in to check on Vash's brother. He was still unconscious, but everything looked good.  
  
When she was done getting ready for work, she went downstairs to make breakfast. Normally Meryl made breakfast, but Millie didn't want to bother her. She ate hers and packed a portion of bacon, eggs, and toast for her foreman, Mr. Jim. She had noticed that in his drive to move the project along, he often overlooked his own needs. He reminded Millie of her little big brother.  
  
As she got to work, everybody greeted her. This was the first job she'd ever had where she was consistantly early. She saw Mr. Jim and waved. Even though he was surrounded by several engineers and was going over plans for the day, he still took the time to wave and return her greeting. She walked up and waited until everyone was back at work and handed him the container of food. "Good morning Mr. Jim, I hope you're doing well!"  
  
He looked up at her, grateful for the breakfast. "Millie, you're too kind. Why do you take such good care of me?"  
  
"Oh Mr. Jim! It's because I have to! What would we do without such a great foreman? And you know I never see you eat! You need to take better care!" She admonished him in an innocent voice and he smiled at her. "So what's the plan for today?"  
  
He put the container down and looked back to the plans. He took in a big breath and let it out. "Well, today we're going to be digging canals through the Jones' fields. If we get done with that, we'll move on to the Millers'."  
  
"Wow! That certainly is a lot to do in one day!"  
  
"Yes, but with your help, we're making record time. I think we can do it!" He looked at her and saw her blush a little bit.  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Jim." She looked away. "We'll, I've got to get my equipment ready, but you better eat that or you'll make me cry!" She ran off to find her pick axe as Jim watched her go.  
  
"Such a considerate girl..."  
  
-------------------------------  
  
Meryl heard the front door open and close quietly. She must have dozed off. She looked at Vash, who was asleep, too. He was so close she couldn't believe it. And the things Vash had told her, a lot of that was hard to believe as well. She thought about how much there was to the man lying beside her: gunslinger, pacifist, tortured soul, pastry aficionado, goofball, friend, and now lover. He was a regular mystery.  
  
The clock said it was 8:30, so the noise was probably Millie leaving for work. She carefully removed herself from his embrace and looked around. She never slept this late (even though she had stayed up for most of the night talking to Vash, she still couldn't justify staying in bed) and felt like starting the day. Days usually start with showers, so she grabbed her towel and some clothes and as quietly as possible, she made her way towards the bathroom.  
  
After she was done, she walked back to her room, but not before staring at the closed door which led to Knives. Meryl shuddered at the thought of him living with them and actually being allowed to recuperate, but she had to trust Vash. She figured he knew what he was doing. After a moment, she quickened her pace and arrived at her room at the end of the hall.  
  
As she opened the door, she was startled to see Vash sitting up in bed and giving her a look almost like the one he had after waking up from his coma when they first arrived at this town. Almost as soon as she saw it, however, this expression was replaced with relief. He rubbed his hand over his face and groaned a morning groan.  
  
Meryl was concerned. "What's wrong?"  
  
He chuckled a little and held out his hand for her. "Nothing...I was just assuming the worst."  
  
She walked over to him and he put her head on her shoulder. "Oh Vash, I'm not going anywhere." She was suddenly hurt. "Don't you trust me?"  
  
"Of course. It's just that I've never told anyone as much as I've told you, and I woke up and you were gone...and I just thought..."  
  
"Jeez, have a little faith," she chided him as he smiled. He really felt foolish now. "Come on, I think Millie made breakfast." 


	8. 

A/N: Whoah! It's been a month since I updated? Jeez. Anyway, I'm at the end of the semester and I've got four tests and two papers due this week, so I figured if I was going to write something due to procrastination, now would be the time. This isn't a huge update, but it'll have to hold you guys over until this semester is finished (ie, next week).

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Vash let her lead him downstairs by the hand. Had it really been two weeks since he had had a proper breakfast? All he'd had to eat since he'd been away was meal replacement bars and water. Vash didn't know how Wolfwood had survived on those things...they were barely edible. Meryl let go of his hand as she got near the kitchen counter and grabbed a couple of plates. He sat down at the table and watched her as she moved around the kitchen. Aside from the impending doom that was his brother, Vash was feeling pretty good about things.

Meryl set a plate in front of him. It was covered in delicious food. There were hash browns, bacon, and eggs, but no donuts. Oh well, this still looked great. Just as he picked up a fork and was about to dig in, Meryl almost shrieked.

"What are you doing?"

Vash looked up at her in shock. "What? What's wrong?!?"

"You...you...actually picked up a fork!" She smiled widely as she moved over to him and put her hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"

Vash realized the joke at his expense. "You are so cold." He looked up at her and gave her a smug expression. "I know all about flatware. My brother's name IS Knives, after all..."

Meryl smiled at him tenderly as her voice softened. "I know. I'm kidding. I'm just...so glad you're back!" She turned towards the kitchen quickly and he knew it was an attempt to hide her blush from him. When she came back to the table with her own plate of food, her cheeks were still rosy. This whole honesty thing was new to the both of them. How long had she acted like a control freak to mask her true feelings? Furthermore, how long had he played the clown to hide his?

He looked across the table at Meryl again. She was so beautiful with her cheeks slightly blushing and her hair haphazardly in her face. For some reason, he felt like razzing her. "Meryl?"

She looked up at him quickly, her grey eyes filled with lazy anticipation. "Mmmhmm?" she hummed, a sound that came off as incredibly sultry to his ears.

He smiled at her. "Have I ever told you how pretty you are?"

Before he had even finished the sentence, her eyes had glued themselves to the table top. Quietly she whispered, "Stop." She'd had some boyfriends before, but her previous attempts at relationships with the opposite sex had all been painfully practical affairs. None of those boys ever gave her compliments like this, none of them looked at her the way he was looking at her, and certainly none of them made her feel the way Vash did. She didn't want to react, but with his eyes fixed on her, she couldn't not say something. "Stop" was the best reaction she could think of.

Vash looked at her, both amused and perplexed. "Look at me." She did. "Don't tell me no one has ever told you that you're beautiful," her face reddened even more as he continued, "because you're absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous."

She looked at him incredulously but hopefully. "What?"

"'Stop' and 'what' are not how you respond to compliments," he chided her. "When someone tells you that you're the cutest, prettiest, smartest, most wonderful girl he's ever met, you're supposed to say 'Thank you.' That is, unless you just want me to continue to compliment you on your determination, and your bravery, and your beautiful eyes, and your shapely legs, and your killer--"

"Thank you! That's enough!" she said, flustered, but smiling. As Vash kept smiling at her, she got the point. Under her breath, she said, "Killing me with kindness, huh? I won't make fun of you and forks anymore."

She smiled at him while he beamed right back.

---------------------------------------------

As Meryl cleaned up the breakfast dishes, she heard Vash going through cabinets, looking for something. "What are you doing?" she asked.

He looked a little lost. "Um, do you know if there are any donuts around here?" He kept looking through cabinets.

"Well, Millie's been doing all the shopping, so if you want sweets, you'll probably have to settle for pudding." She saw his expression deflate as he walked over to the pantry to get some not-as-good-as-donuts-pudding. As he opened the door, he heard a rumble, but it was already too late. The door busted open and soon he was underneath a deluge of pudding cups.

"GAAAH!!! HELP! I'VE BEEN ATTACKED!" he screamed. Pinned to the ground by a huge pile of pudding cups, he whined, "Donuts never treat me like this!"

Meryl tried not to laugh as she dug him out from under the menacing desert cups. "Vash, you opened the door too quickly!"

"You weren't kidding when you said Millie was doing all the shopping." He looked around him in a daze, seeing pudding cups spread all across the floor.

Meryl handed him a broom. "Come on, let's clean this up and you can show me how to protect my brain from Knives."

Vash looked up at her confused. "Um...don't you have work today?" When he left, she had a job at the saloon.

"Not anymore. I was...fired."

"WHAT!?!" Meryl Strife didn't get fired! She was so professional, so punctual, so...employable. "What happened?"

She suddenly looked very shy. "Well, I...er...accidentally started...a fight."

-------------------------

A/N: Sorry guys, this is a lot shorter than I wanted this chapter to be, but that just means there will be another chapter soon...one featuring Millie. Alright, that's all I've got. Hope you enjoyed it.


	9. 

A/N: alright: the semester is over. yay. time for another chapter! thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!

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"Watch out!" A huge bolder flew up into the sky and came crashing back down to earth. The culprit was obvious.

"Damn it, Millie! Would you watch where you throw those bolders next time!"

"Sorry Bob! My mistake! Won't happen again!" Millie looked around in embarrassment and caught the eye of the foreman. He looked at her and gave her a smile as he approached.

"Don't feel down, Millie. Bobby's just jealous he can't work as hard as you. He's quite the scrawny fellow."

"Thanks Mr. Jim." His kind words made her feel a little better, even if they were at poor Bob's expense.

"Really. The boulder wasn't anywhere close." He gave her a big smile then looked towards Bob. "Hey, Bobby, you need to toughen up, and I don't want to hear any more cussing on the job, got that?"

"Yes boss..."

Mr. Jim looked back at Millie. "Come on, we only have a little more work to do today. If we all work together, we might even get to call it quits early."

Millie beamed with happiness at the thought of an early pudding snack. "YES SIR!" she shouted, and started attacking the bedrock with her pick ax.

------------------------------------------

(meanwhile, back at the ranch...er...kitchen)

Vash sat looking at Meryl in disbelief. "So...lemmegetthisstraight. You're telling me that four big, ugly, dumb, strong guys who were drunk...very drunk...and had guns...lots of guns...that were loaded with bullets...tons of bullets...were simply talking poorly of me, and you thought it would be a good idea to punch ALL of them them in the face?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Well, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound like a good idea at all..." She trailed off and looked at the floor. "I'm just glad Millie showed up with her stungun, because those guys were not happy. I know that sometimes I get a little...ahead of myself when it comes to getting control of a situation. Anyway, the boss decided to hire some bimbo who didn't mind being felt up and that's quite alright with me!"

"Well, it doesn't sound like I'm the one who needs to be followed anymore..." Meryl thought this comment was quite uncalled for. Her bruised ego demanded action. Vash laughed as he dodged a one of her uppercuts. "Oh, I see how it is! You defend my honor when I'm away and then want to take all your frustration out on me once I'm back!"

"That's" swing "Right" swing "Mr." swing "Stampede!" swing. She took a second to catch her breath. "To think that you are actually insinuating that I am even capable of causing as much trouble as you are!" Swing. Vash caught one arm. Swing. Vash caught her other arm.

"Man, you're tiring me out! I know a much better way to work out your aggression..."

Meryl raised her eyebrow. "I don't even want to hear your suggestion if it's perverted."

"Okay. Nevermind then..." Vash smiled as she made a shocked face. "Come on, I'm just kidding. Come have some pudding with me on the porch and I'll show you a few mind blocks that you should practice." She still looked mad, so he gave her a little kiss on the cheek. "I'm kidding. You know that."

She finally smirked. "Yes, I know. How could I take an accusation like that seriously when it's coming from the man who the entire planet thinks single handedly invented trouble?" She grinned smuggly.

"Don't be so cold." He smiled at her with a wink.

--------------------------------------------------

"Hey Millie!"

Millie stopped pounding away with her pick ax and looked up. A pair of curious eyes were looking at her. "What is it Tom?" Tom had joined the crew recently and was known for starting rumors around town.

"What's up with you and the boss?"

Millie looked shocked. "Well now I'm the topic of your gossip! I don't know if I should be insulted or flattered. And for your information, absolutely nothing is going on!" Millie blushed and tried to get back to her work.

"What do you mean! You're always bringing him food, and he's always getting you out of trouble with the other guys." Millie stopped working. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you two liked each other."

Millie shook her head and started working again. "Goodness! Where do you get these ideas! Plus I'm sure a good man like him has already settled down."

Tom looked at her shocked. "You don't know? Big Jim's been single for years now! Guess he hasn't found anybody who suits his fancy." He looked at Millie. "Well, maybe not until now..."

Millie blushed. "Tom, go away. With the way you talk, if I wasn't looking right at you, I would swear you were an old woman!"

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you alone. I just wanted to know if there was any truth to any of the talk I've been hearing around the water cooler."

It was Bernardelli's all over again...except the people gossipping this time were the men of a construction crew instead of the office girls in the city. Millie almost giggled at the contrast. She was glad Meryl didn't work with her because Meryl couldn't stand gossip no matter who it was coming from. That's why Meryl had opted for the field assignment in the first place. "You guys must be really bored out here. You should concentrate on digging irrigation canals and everyone will be better off for it! Now, run along and do your job and stop distracting me from mine..." Only Millie could make a statement like that sound sweet.

"Okay Millie, but just keep an eye out next time you talk to Big Jim. Maybe you'll see what everyone else does."

---------------------------------------------------

Vash plopped down on the first step of the porch with a pudding cup and a spoon as Meryl situated herself next to him. "Move a little closer," he told her. When she gave him a questioning look, he said, "It's easier for me if we're touching."

"Oh. Right. Of course." She said it like reading minds and having to block thoughts all made perfect sense and was an everyday occurance, even though she didn't know what she was doing in the slightest. They were facing each other with their knees touching. "How about this?"

"How about a little closer," he winked at her.

"Are you trying to cop a feel or are you gonna show me how to protect myself?" Meryl smirked as Vash put his hands in the air in surrender.

"Okay! This will do just fine!" He ate the last bite of pudding before putting the empty container down on the porch. "Alright. First things first: I want you to relax."

"Okay. Relaxed."

"Um, you can't just say you're relaxed..."

Meryl was a little peeved. "Fine! Tell me how to relax!"

Vash smiled. "Well, first off, you need to stop yelling at me."

She blushed "Okay."

"Now, I want you to concentrate on every muscle in your body from the top of your head down to your little toes one at a time and untense all your muscles. Make sure to pay special attention to your back and neck. And don't rush it, or we'll both get frustrated."

"Okay."

After a little while, Meryl announced she was relaxed. "Alright, we're going to start out with a simple block. I want you to think of a color, but don't tell me what it is."

"Okay, check."

"Alright, now I want you to imagine a wall around the color. Don't let any of the color escape the wall."

She concentrated very hard. "Umm...okay, I think I've got it." She took a bite of pudding.

"Okay, now I'm going to go into your mind and it might feel a little weird. If you don't like it, tell me and I'll stop. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready." Meryl closed her eyes.

"Okay. Here goes." Meryl was suddenly aware of a presence along the edges of her mind. She felt the edges begin to dissolve.

"Remember to relax."

"Right, sorry."

"It's okay. You're doing great."

Meryl was trying to concentrate on keeping her color enclosed in her imagined wall and not focus on the strange sensation that was going on in her head. She felt tendrils stretching out over her mind, probing her consciousness. She took deep breaths to try to remain calm.

Vash felt her panic a little. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Mmmhmm. I'm okay." She felt the tendrils on the wall around her color. They were inspecting for any weaknesses.

"This is pretty good for a first try! I'm impressed!" Vash noticed her eyes were still closed. He also noticed a little bit of pudding on the corner of her mouth. '_I wonder how she handles distraction,_' he thought to himself. He gently brought his hand up to her face and wiped the pudding off with his finger. She opened her eyes just in time to see him lick the pudding off the tip of his finger. "You know, you shouldn't let sweet stuff go to waste like that."

Meryl was flabbergasted. Before she had time to realize what she was doing, a thought slipped into her mind. _'I wonder what it would feel like for him to lick pudding of my --"_

Vash's eyes shot open as he jumped back. "WHOAH! Whoah! Um...okay..."

Meryl's blush was uncontrolable. "Oh my god! Did you just hear that?"

Vash looked at the ground. This lesson was definitely over. "Well, ahhh...um...at least I still don't know what color you're thinking of..."

-------------------------------------------------

Millie got off of work early and made her way home. When she got there, Mr. Vash and Meryl were in the kitchen making dinner. She walked in quietly and snuck up behind them. "Why, don't you two look adorable!"

The two at the counter jumped and spun around at the sound of her voice. It was the first time the new couple had been observed by a third party and they were suddenly completely self-conscious. Meryl looked like she would have given anything just to focus on the food preparation, and Vash looked like he was about to jump out of a window to get away. Millie started giggling.

"You two seem tense! What's the matter?"

Vash started for the door. "Um, I just remembered, there was something I had to do...um...outside... I'll be back in a while." He left the kitchen without looking at either of the girls.

Millie could sense Meryl relax with Vash out of the room. "So..." Millie started, "what's up?" Meryl looked up and gave her friend a blushing smile. Millie's smile grew as well. "Did you tell him?" Meryl nodded her head up and down quickly. Millie was beginning to get excited. "And...is it mutual?"

Meryl looked like she was about to die from happiness. "Yes! Can you believe it?"

"Um...well...yes. HELLO! I've been telling you to tell him about your feelings for weeks!" Millie smiled warmly at her friend as she retrieved a few pudding cups from the pantry. "So...TELL ME EVERYTHING!"

------------------------------

As Meryl unloaded all the good news on Millie, she felt increasingly guilty, because after this good news, she had to tell her about Vash and Knives and Wolfwood. She wasn't looking forward to doing it, but she had made a promise to Vash and she wanted Millie to know the truth. As she left a pot of soup simmer on the stove and finished recounting the day's events to Millie, she broached the topic.

"Millie, there's something serious I wanted to talk to you about. It's most likely a touchy subject, but you need to know what's going on." Meryl poured Millie and herself two cups of coffee and sat down at the table accross from her.

"What is it?"

"It's about Knives, and who he is, and his involvement with Wolfwood."

"Nick? Nick had something to do with Knives?"

"Yes..." Meryl could see her friend's curiosity and dread on her face. Meryl couldn't help but question if telling Millie was really the right thing to do.

"As you know, Knives is Vash's brother. It was Knives' mission to make Vash see that they are superior to humans and that the humans should be smote from the face of this planet. When Vash refused, Knives swore he would cause Vash eternal suffering. To do this, Knives formed a group of assassins. They were the Gung-Ho Guns. All those monsters who were after Vash were part of this group."

"That's so horrible..."

"Wolfwood...was also part of this group."

"Wha--what?"

"Wolfwood was paid to first keep tabs on Vash and then to kill him. When he refused to kill Vash, Knives ordered his execution." Meryl reached her hand accross the table and tried to take Millie's hand, but she withdrew hers and put them in her lap.

"Knives is very dangerous and Vash wanted you to know everything. He didn't want Knives to be able to use the knowledge against you."

"Knives?" She said it like she had just remembered he was there in the house. "Knives is here. Why did Vash bring him here?"

"Vash couldn't kill him after the fight. He's trying to save Knives."

Millie was suddenly drowning in rage and depression. "How could he! How could he be so selfish? After all the people Knives has killed... How could Vash let him live? And Nick... How could he not have told me?" Millie stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where...where are you going?" Meryl got up and walked towards her friend.

"Don't follow me, Meryl. I need to be alone for a while." With that, she walked outside the house and towards town.

----------------------------------------

Millie pushed through the swinging doors of the saloon. She took a seat at the bar and ordered a bottle of hootch, his favorite brand. The smell of cigarettes and the taste of liquor reminded her so much of Nick. He always smoked the cheapest brand of cigarettes he could find. She poured some whiskey over her ice, just like he would have, and tried not to think about what Meryl had told her. She didn't want to believe that Nick had been a hired murderer. How many other people had he murdered for profit? The man she loved had been in reality a complete stranger. She was normally so perceptive. How could she have completely missed this? She didn't know what hurt worse: the fact that Knives was responsible for Nick's death, or that Nick was a hitman out to betray Vash.

She sighed as she downed the liquor in front of her. She didn't usually get drunk when she was depressed, but this new information was just too much.

As she refilled her glass, she thought about the last night she and Nick had spent together. He was distraught about shooting Zazie. Nick knew Zazie would either have to succeed and kill Vash or be executed for failing on his mission. No one else did. No wonder he so calmly shot a child in the head. Zazie had been doomed to die from the beginning. Nick broke down in the hotel room and Millie comforted him. Millie wasn't judging him, and he needed her to listen and understand him. He kissed her once before he left in the morning, but for such a flirt, he was surprisingly well mannered. He told her that her innocence had rubbed off on him. For most of the night he just stayed close to her and held her tightly, no doubt thinking about his certain untimely demise the next morning.

Millie swallowed the liquor and poured another glass.

He had told her he loved her and that she had to promise she would stay inside until he came back. He didn't kill Vash. He went against Knives. He wasn't a murderer! But he had killed people before. And he was a priest! How could she love a man like that? How could she miss him so terribly much? She wished she could go up to him and ask him what was true and what wasn't, but that opportunity was long gone. All she had was her memory of him and the new information Meryl had just given her. What she knew now didn't make him any less special to her. It just made her sad. He must have felt so alone and torn. He was probably Vash's closest friend, and Nick knew he had been hired to betray him. In the end, Nick didn't betray Vash, and she decided that was the important thing. Whatever happened before, on the day he died, Nick was a changed man.

Millie finished off the third shot and poured another. She felt someone come up behind her, but she didn't care enough to turn around.

"Millie? Is that you?" She looked up and saw Mr. Jim staring down at her. He saw the expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and forced a small smile. "Just thinking about someone." He could tell it was something deeper than that.

"I know that look... I know what it's like...to lose someone you love." She suddenly looked straight in his eyes. He looked down at her with so much compassion that she couldn't hold the tears back any longer. He put an arm around her. "Come on, I'll walk you home. A pretty girl like you should be very careful in a dangerous place like this."

---------------------------------------

It was late. Meryl had helped Jim get Millie into bed. She was relieved to have Millie back, and Millie didn't seem angry anymore. She was pretty sure Millie would be ready to talk in the morning. After Jim refused a cup of coffee and left, Meryl went to find Vash. He was sitting against the wall looking at Knives' door.

"I shouldn't have brought him here. I only cause trouble," he said quietly, full of self-loathing.

Meryl knelt down beside him. "Vash, what Knives did is not your fault." She took his hand. "Look at me." He did. "Millie and I care about you and we are here by choice. Millie is upset right now, but she's found out a lot today and I think it's completely understandable for her to react the way she did. Just give her some time and everything will be alright. We're here to help you. Afterall, we do owe you our lives."

"Stop. I shouldn't be putting you in danger like this."

She could feel herself growing a little angry at his reaction. Why did he have to think everything was his fault? "Well, what were you supposed to do? Kill your own brother?"

"I...don't know. Maybe." He looked back at his brother's door. "I can't let him hurt anybody else. It's just not right."

Meryl instantly felt guilty when she saw his eyes. "It'll be alright." She leaned in closer. "I'll do whatever I can to help you with your brother."

"I know. Thank you."

"Millie is strong. She'll be alright."

"Okay."

She leaned in and kissed him and smiled. "Come on, let's go to bed."

"I don't know if I should leave Knives unguarded."

"Vash, stop worrying. He's sustained huge injuries. Even if he does wake up, he won't be able to do anything. You can't let yourself waste away because of Knives." She leaned in close. "Besides, I'll make it worth your while..."

He finally turned and smiled at her. "Really...should I get the pudding?"

Meryl laughed as she walked towards her bedroom. "I really don't think we'll need it..."


	10. 

Meryl woke up and rolled over to look at Vash in the sunlight. He'd been back for a week, but she was still finding it hard to believe. She woke him gently to let him know she was getting up. He still seemed to panic a little when he woke up and she wasn't with him, but he was getting over it. He was learning to trust her, and he was getting used to the idea that she wasn't going anywhere. She really couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that he had been alone for over a century. She would probably be nervous, too.

She sat up in bed and felt a strangely satisfying ache in her body which read as sure as any scribbled paper sign, "Vash T. S. was here." She stifled a laugh at the thought and got out of bed to start her morning routine. First was a shower. She accomplished that in no time. Then she had to get dressed and make breakfast. Millie had started going to the local cafe with Mr. Jim in the mornings. Meryl would have been nervous about the extra money spent, but Jim always paid, and it was really cute seeing Millie with him. Meryl was pretty sure there were feelings between them, but as always, Millie's outwardly innocent display deflected all inquiries about the nature of their relationship.

She walked down stairs and started frying some bacon. After that was done, she fried eggs in the leftover grease. At about the time the toast had finished toasting, she heard Vash padding down from their room. She turned around when she heard him take a seat at the table. As she put a plate of food down in front of him, he pulled her close and gave her a kiss. "Good morning, beautiful." He gave her a real smile, which wasn't so out of the ordinary anymore.

"Good morning," she replied with a smile. If only every morning could start like this.

After a leisurely breakfast, Vash went to take a shower and get dressed and Meryl went to take care of Knives. She thought it was funny that her morning routine was almost exactly the opposite of Vash's, but it was kind of nice. They were never fighting over the bathroom.

She gathered the medical supplies that were necessary to treat Knives and walked into his room. He was a fast healer, but the injuries he had sustained would leave some scars. She walked over to his bed timidly, trying to make sure he was still unconscious. As she changed the dressings on his wounds, Meryl thought about how Vash had been acting lately towards his brother. Sometimes she would find him standing at the doorway looking at him, his entire body tensed. Other times, she would see him sitting against the wall, as if he was looking at Knives through the closed door in front of him. She never saw him in the room.

As she finished changing the last dressing, she felt a strange sensation all over her body, then it felt like a huge and ragged clamp had fastened around her mind. She looked at Knives face and was shocked to see his eyes open. She started to panic, but managed to apply the mind blocking techniques Vash had been showing her. She saw the frustration on Knives face and jumped out of the way right before he managed to grab her arm. He winced at the pain in his arm. In no time, she pulled out her gun (Vash told her to always be armed, even if Knives seemed unconscious) and accidentally knocked over the tray of medical supplies. At the crashing sound, Vash walked in and took in the scene before him.

Vash calmly walked over and touched Meryl on the shoulder. "It's okay." Slowly, she backed out of the room, never once lowering her gun or taking her eyes off of Knives.

When she was outside of the room, Vash closed the door and looked hard at his brother. "So, you showed her how to block her mind...impressive for a spider." Knives sounded amused. "And her resemblance to that bitch is striking. That must be why you keep this pet of yours around." It was obvious Knives was trying to bait his brother.

Vash kept looking at Knives. As he thought about what Knives had just tried to pull on Meryl, his blood began to boil. With her out of the room, he felt his animosity towards his brother begin to rise unchecked.

He started unbuttoning his shirt. At first, Knives didn't know what he was doing, but suddenly as Vash let the fabric fall to the floor, he knew. Knives looked at the mangled body of his twin and his mouth dropped open. The scars were so much worse than the last time he had seen his brother. He looked over all the metal implants and the prosthetic arm. He looked over the grotesque gorges and the steel grid that replaced Vash's missing flesh. He tried to regain his composure, but he couldn't imagine the pain that had been inflicted on him to get such horrible scars.

Knives was seething with anger. "Look what those...insects...have done to you. You are so foolish to care about them."

Slowly, calmly, and with his voice full of malice, Vash spoke. "Knives, don't start. You caused me to get all these scars. These desperate people on this planet only hunted me because they needed the money. You...you hunted me to prove some delusion. I can forgive the people who went after me because they thought they had no other choice. You, brother, always knew you could stop. And no physical injury ever hurt as much as your betrayal of me, of Rem, of the entire human race." Vash watched as his words sank into his brother's mind. "Your false belief that you were superior has caused me this pain. You caused the deaths of so many...of so many I loved."

Knives couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his dopey brother, and he couldn't keep his cool. "But Vash! I only did it for you. I did it to save you from the spiders!"

Vash noticed Knives' composure slipping. He must have still been very weak. "I didn't have a problem until you decided to blow up July." Vash picked his shirt up and started to get dressed again. "I can't forget all the people you've taken away from me. I can never forget the loved ones I have lost because of you." Pictures of dead friends flickered in his mind like an old film reel.

With Vash fully clothed once again, Knives got ahold of himself. Anger grew in his heart. "You are such a coward. You come in here all high and mighty, yet you couldn't even kill me when you had the chance."

Vash's next words shocked him more than anything Vash had ever said before. "Just because I didn't kill you doesn't mean I don't want you dead." Who was this man standing in front of Knives? Vash saw his brother's face react to the statement. "Don't look so stunned, Knives. We are brothers, afterall. You really think I'm a fool, don't you?" Vash's face twisted in anguish. "Our last fight wasn't the first opportunity to kill you that I passed up." Knives' eyes flashed with horror. What was Vash talking about?

"You don't know about the time I almost bashed your skull in while you slept right after you crashed us into this planet. You've never realized that it was the ideals of "that bitch," as you so eloquently refer to her, that kept me from killing you that night. You're just like every human on this planet. Even you owe Rem for your life, several times over."

There was no point in hiding it anymore. Knives didn't know the man who was standing over his bed. What happened to the idiot who spouted mantras about love and peace?

Vash caught his brother's frantic thoughts. "You're the idiot. Don't you know I can't have peace when you keep killing all the people I love." Knives was slowly shaking his head back and forth. Vash looked deep into his brohter's eyes. "Do not force my hand, brother. I don't want to kill you, but if you have to die for me to protect those I love, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger."

Vash left his mind wide open. Knives sifted through his thoughts and knew for a fact that Vash was not bluffing. Knives had tried to turn his brother into a killer, and it seemed as though he had succeeded, but he was threatening to kill a member of the wrong species. Reaching for anything to convince his brother against this, Knives appealed to the memory of the woman he had grown to hate. "What happened to the promise you made to Rem?"

Vash leaned over the bed. He seemed bigger than normal. "You were right about me, Knives. I am naive. I believe you can change. I am giving you a final chance to come around. It is true that Rem would have abhored me talking about killing my own flesh and blood, but what would she say if she knew I had allowed you to terrorize everyone on this planet because of your ridiculous delusions of grandeur?" He trailed off, thinking of Rem. "I don't want to make a sacrifice to save everyone. I know all it would take was for you to change your mind. However, I can't let you terrorize the humans anymore. If I have to make a sacrifice, it will be your life. No more innocents will die by your hand." He looked at his brother, who was still in shock. "Do not doubt my words. I am the only one who can stop you, and if you want to drive me to commit murder again, it will be the last thing you ever do."

Knives was flabbergasted. Vash looked out the window, his face full of weariness. After a while, he looked at the floor and saw all the medical supplies at his feet. He bent down and placed all the items back on the tray. Slowly and heavily, he began to speak. "You're still injured. If you're not nice to Meryl, then you don't get any medical care. I know you think you're superior, but right now, you're depending on humans to get better, so try to be a little more gracious."

Vash stood and walked out of the room, leaving Knives to contemplate his twins words alone.

-----

yes, i hope that wasn't repugnant. review and whatnot!


	11. 11

Hey everyone. Long time, no write. I hope this is to everyone's liking. Bad-ass Vash certainly got a response out of you guys. I hope some of you are still around to finish the story. I'm thinking after this there will be two or three more chapters.

* * *

Vash walked to the back of the house, stumbled out the door, supported himself against the wall, and proceeded to vomit.

He'd never said anything remotely like that in his entire life.

He stood there a moment with his eyes closed and tried to collect himself. The moment he saw Meryl with a gun pointed at Knives, he'd snapped. He'd lost too much to stand by idly once again while his brother took something else away from him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and got a hold of himself.

He walked back to the front porch and saw Meryl sitting on the steps. He sat down beside her.

"Are you ok?" He looked at her as she stared at something on the horizon.

"Yeah, I'm ok." She looked shaken, but not hurt.

"I'm sor—" Meryl cut him off.

"Don't apologize for him! You didn't do anything wrong." She finally looked at him. "I'm ok and you didn't do anything wrong, so don't say you're sorry." She leaned into him and he put his arm around her.

"I made it clear to him that trying anything like that again would be a mistake." Meryl snuggled closer to him and hoped to god Vash knew what he was talking about.

* * *

Knives lay in his room alone. His shoulder hurt. No one had bothered to take care of his wounds. They'd just left him there to sulk alone like some misbehaving child. All he could do was stair at the ceiling, and he'd decided long ago this wasn't an activity for a superior being. He grew angry as he thought of the harsh words his brother had imparted on him, and he grew even angrier still as he thought back to the way in which Vash relayed them. Never mind the fact that his dopey brother just might have a point; nobody spoke to him like that and got away with it. He'd lost to his brother in battle, and would not take any more abuse from him. Didn't Vash realize that all he was trying to do was save him from these horrible insects? Instead, his brother insisted on keeping these creatures as pets.

Knives was in the mood for a little distraction.

* * *

Millie was having a good day. Actually, that was an understatement. Millie was having a great day! It had started out with pudding, then coffee with Mr. Jim, then work at the job she loved. She was living in a town that felt like her old home and Meryl and Vash were finally together. She was feeling great about a lot of things.

Instead of going to work to keep her mind off of the painful thought of Wolfwood's death, she was actually beginning to come out of her shell and really enjoy what she was doing. The town literally bloomed as they worked on the well. The place was buzzing with new enthusiasm. Everyone knew it was possible to live without the plants, but they had to find resources first. This was the first step in moving away from old technology and towards the future. Instead of the dry exterior that most people presented, the people in town began to change. Everybody was filled with new hope.

Millie found that Mr. Jim was very conscientious about her emotions and he was someone she could lean on during hard times. Now that Meryl had her hands full with Vash and taking care of Knives, it was nice to have someone else to talk to. She was even starting to notice that he was actually pretty cute, but whenever she thought about that, she just laughed at herself and continued what she was doing.

She liked working with the people and making the town a better place to be. This was somewhere she could call home.

* * *

It was evening. Once again, Meryl made her way towards Knives' room. She didn't want to be on sick plant duty ever again, but she knew that if Vash went in there, he was liable to do something very un-Vash-like to his dear brother.

She mentally prepared herself before walking into the room. As she opened the door, the homicidal man in bed greeted her with a smile. It had a shade of evil to it, but given the fact that the majority of his last 130 years had been spent solely on the annihilation of the entire human species, Meryl let it slide.

Since he was now conscious, she figured introductions were in order.

"Hello. My name is Meryl. I've been taking care of you since you've been here."

Knives sneered. "So you're the one I can blame for such shoddy repair work. " He laughed to himself as he saw his brother's pet bristle with anger. He decided to leave her alone until she was finished taking care of him.

She moved to the side of his bed cautiously, but tried not to be intimidated. Vash had assured her all day long that while Knives was dangerous in many ways, he would be nothing she couldn't handle. That made her feel better earlier, but now, standing next to the hostile, bed-ridden man, she was a little less than sure of herself.

She tried to touch him as little as possible. She was all business with surgical accuracy and no dillydallying whatsoever.

When she was done with her work, she stepped back to make sure everything was in place. That's when she noticed Knives was still looking at her, and his slightly evil smile had become a definitely evil smirk. She thought of her gun, but just as she was about to reach for it, she saw a burst of feathers from Knives' shoulder as he lunged for her. She only had time for one thought to come to mind.

'Oh shit.'

* * *

A/N: Ok. Cliff-hanger. Review. 


	12. second chance 101

Meryl felt weird. She felt like she was having an out of body experience. She had seen the burst of feathers and she had seen Knives dive for her. She knew her death was a mere certainty at this point. She'd closed her eyes tightly and hadn't even had time to pray when she heard the unearthly shriek, but the pain she was expecting never came.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she wasn't the one screaming.

She opened one eye seconds later when she heard the door bust open. She looked up from her huddled position in the corner to see a righteously angry Vash leap through the door, breaking the top hinge in the process. He had both guns drawn and was staring straight at Knives. He was ready to pull both triggers, but in the split second before he followed through with his gut reaction, he was able to survey the situation as such:

1. No blood.

2. Something smelled like it was burning.

3. Meryl was in the corner, safe.

4. Knives screams like a girl.

Vash sighed a big sigh and put his guns away. Knives was still screaming like the plant hadn't seen nor heard him. He walked over to Meryl and squatted down beside her. He touched her face tentatively. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head no, realizing that was probably the only reason Knives was still alive at this moment. She wondered why she was alive and suddenly realized the pattern in which Vash has shot his brother. It must have had something to do with the gunshot wounds to those strategic points in his body. She felt an odd sensation of fear towards Vash as she realized he was the stronger of the twins at the moment, but when she looked up at his face, all traces of anxiety vanished. He looked like a mother whose kid had wandered into the street and had almost been hit by a car. He was angry, but also on the verge of tears with relief. She instantly hated herself.

Vash gathered her in his arms quickly and gave her a strong bear hug. After a moment, he let her go. "I think I have to explain some things to Knives. I'll see you downstairs."

She nodded, still finding it unbelievable that she was walking away from this altercation with Knives completely unscathed. She climbed over the broken door and ran downstairs as fast as she could.

Knives finally stopped screaming and looked at Vash. He was frothing with anger and he was in pain. Vash looked at his shoulder where the feathers had escaped from his body and saw the burn marks on his shirt. Knives was now panting from the pain. "What…have you…done…to me?"

Vash sat down at the edge of the bed and took a deep breath before starting in a high, over-the-top voice. "Hi Knives. Welcome to SECOND CHANCE 101. This is where I show you how to live among the humans and not kill anybody. I thought you might try something like this, so I…"disarmed" your arms. I mean, what do you need to be a killing machine for if you've got no one to kill?"

Knives clenched his teeth together in anger and pain. He was hissing. "You WHAT!"

Vash dropped the act and took on a darker, serious tone. "Come on, Knives, you really do think I'm an idiot, don't you. You think I'd bring you to live among humans without any assurances?" Vash shook his head in disgust.

Knives continued to hiss through his teeth. "You…BASTARD! I'm going to kill your small spider, and I'm going to kill your big spider, and then I'm going TO KILL YOU!"

Vash stood up. "Oh, come on, Knives. Don't be such a spoiled sport. It's not like you haven't done anything to deserve this. And afterall, I'm giving you a chance to come around. I could have killed you."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL ME! If I have to suffer like this, in PAIN, living among the human trash, humiliated and unable to even take care of myself, why didn't you kill me!"

Vash stood up and tried to make his way out of the room, but saw the busted door in front of him. 'Did I do that?' he thought sheepishly to himself. He looked back to his brother one last time before exiting. "Knives, at this point, I think some humility is exactly what you need." He turned to leave, but stopped. "One last thing. I shot the "power seeds" in your arms." Knives shot him a glance of pure hatred as the realization dawned on him. "Yep, that's right. Your arms will continue to backfire if you try to use them, so do yourself a favor and don't try to hurt anybody."

He exited the room as Knives' howled curses at him. He went downstairs to find Meryl. She was curled up on the couch, shaking like a leaf. She jumped when she saw him, but relaxed when she realized it was Vash. "Hey…"

Vash sat down next to her. "Hey."

They sat for a few moments, Knives still spitting curses. Vash finally spoke.

"Let's get out of here. I can't listen to this all night."

She looked up at him. "Is Knives going to heal?"

He looked grave for a moment. "I cannot say for sure, but I have a feeling his abilities will regenerate eventually, so we have to save him before that happens." He looked down at her with a smirk. "Or else, I'll just have to shoot him full of holes again. I've been itching to do that recently."

Meryl looked at him doubtfully. "Is it…okay to leave him here?"

"Yeah. It'll be okay. I just can't listen to this any longer."

Meryl tried to think for a moment, but couldn't because of all the threats coming from Knives. "Okay, just let me get my coat."

-----------------------------------------------

AN: alright. another chapter. yay.


	13. penultimate

A/N: I am absolutely reeling from the last few chapters of Rise of the Silver Stars. This is honestly the closest I've ever come to sobbing after reading a fan fiction. My heart has been completely and momentarily obliterated by that story (but it's still amazingly awesome...that's what makes it so heart-breaking). Anyway, I started out planning to write some fluff, but realized after that story that I didn't remember how to.

So...without further adieu... the second-to-last chapter (penultimate, if you will) of Can't Wait Any Longer...

* * *

Jim dropped her off at the door. He asked her if she wanted him to walk her in, but she declined. There had been some bounty hunters in town who had caught wind that Vash was around, so he was feeling antsy about leaving her alone, especially at the place those jerks were hoping to find. She, however, reassured him that she was a professional, and while she did appear innocent, was quite capable of handling a few bounty hunters. So, he respectfully watched from a distance as he made sure she got in the house. She waved from the screen door and watched as he drove off. She sighed a little. Jim was nice, and cute, and... She sighed again. 

She walked in and noticed a few things were amiss. There was screaming coming from upstairs, there was a note on the counter, and perhaps most telling, there was no Mr Vash and there was no Meryl. Dinner sat on the stove, already prepared. A tray for Knives which was perfectly cold sat undelivered. She sighed and picked the note up. The top half looked like it was written in Mr Vash's handwriting, but it had been neatly and efficiently scratched out and Meryl's efficient and business-like cursive was all that remained.

_Milly,_

_We are in town at the saloon. I recommend you join us. _

_Meryl_

At the bottom something else was scrawled out haphazardly:

_And Vash TS_

_PS KNIVES MAD. _

_Well_, she thought to herself, _that was simply put_. For Meryl to agree to go to the saloon, she must have wanted out of the house at all costs. Something major had taken place while she was out. She looked at the stew that was left on the stove and decided to heat it up.

She didn't see any point in leaving Knives mad and hungry. She was pretty sure it would only make him sourer.

She balanced the tray as she made her way upstairs and actually looked down the hall. The screams and curses had slowed to a trickle of mutterings. She knocked on the door frame with the back of her hand. Knives instantly leveled his gaze at her and threw the most threatening glare he could muster. She, however, was impervious to such optical intimidation, and so made her way over the broken door and into the room. She attempted small-talk, but the angry man in the bed wasn't being very receptive to having company. She looked around at the damage, realizing she really hadn't been in this room much since Knives moved in. She ignored his half-hearted curses as she placed the tray by his bed. A string of words that left his mouth did, however, catch her attention, and suddenly she was filled with a righteous fury.

"...unworthy sorry excuse for a brother, should have killed him with the rest of the humans when I had the chance..."

Seeing absolutely no good reason to control herself, her hand suddenly drew back into a fist and she backhanded Knives as hard as she could. The plant sat dazed for a moment. He touched his hand to his mouth several times, seeing blood on his fingers. He looked at her with all the hatred he had in his body and was met with an equally intense stare of her own.

"How _DARE_ you!" she seethed. "He's your _BROTHER_. He's your _FAMILY_." She spoke as if all the other hatred that he had stored up in his body could actually be justified.

He looked at her dumbly, not quite knowing what to do as the human continued to rage.

"After all the hurt, and the pain, and the... All he's ever wanted for you was the best! He's the only reason Sempai hasn't shot you herself! He trusts us and we trust him. He's the only reason any of us have given you a chance! Because we know what a good person he is. He believes in you, and if he sees some good, it_ must _be in there. "

The nerves in Knives' bloodied mouth began to respond. "Filth, don't even speak to me!"

She couldn't stop herself. She had to say her piece. "You...what is this all about? What is all this hatred you have? How are you any different than the people you despise? You're so scared...so scared of the humans...and why? Because you're worried they'll treat you like a weapon to use against each other? Because they'll see you as...as...a _battery_!" She could feel the heat in her cheeks, but she couldn't stop. "You're afraid and you react with violence. What is so different between you and us? What is so different? What is so superior? The power you wield? That doesn't make you superior! That just makes you a bully!"

Knives wanted to kill it for what it was saying, but the surge in his arm led to the burning sensation in his shoulders and his legs were too weak to run. Too weak to run away from this human's words.

"And why would you possibly want Mr. Vash dead? What could you possibly gain with the death of your own _brother_...your own _twin_? He's your family, and all you want to do is cause him suffering, cause him pain, cause him to lose hope...to lose his ideals." She started crying. "Well, I've seen Mr. Vash with no hope! I've seen what he looks like when he thinks all is lost, and it's not something I ever want to see again!" She rubbed at her eyes with her hands, but maintained her gaze. "I'm a human, and I have more compassion for your own kind than _you_ do! I don't even want _you_ to suffer, though you definitely deserve it by your own standards! I just want you to...to...to..."

She let out a sob and continued.

"To GET OVER YOURSELF!" She finished in a roar. She stood there crying and staring at him. Their gaze never broke. She finally calmed down. "I hope the food is still warm. You'll need to eat to get your strength back. If not for yourself, please do it for Mr. Vash. He cares about you more than anything."

She stepped over the door and into the bathroom, where he could hear her continue to sob.

Normally, the sound would have been music to his ears, but not tonight. Not tonight. How dare it jump to conclusions like that! How dare it assume he really wanted his brother dead! The words he spoke weren't even said in half-seriousness. They were simply borne out of...well...fear. It was fear, wasn't it. He was stuck in a house all by himself, abandoned by his own brother, defenseless against whatever ruthless human happened upon him, although he knew that even Vash wouldn't have been able to protect him from its weapons...they were simply words, after all.

He waited until Vash and his pet had made it back. Knives feigned unconsciousness. Vash walked by the room and Knives could tell he was looking at him. Knives could feel the uncertainty rolling off of him. And that's when he felt it, when it really hit him. Vash _didn't_ trust him. The spider had been right. Vash didn't know if Knives was better off dead or alive, and while Knives had been, "talking out of his ass," as the colloquialism went, he never doubted that he wanted his brother alive and by his side. All he wanted was for Vash to be strong, to be safe, to be protected, to be loved and cared for. He had only ever wanted the best for his brother. Now he realized that while Vash might hesitate at first, he _would_ shoot to kill. Knives was not Vash's savior, he was his greatest liability.

He had to get out of there.

The next morning was like most other mornings. Milly got up and got ready for work without a second thought devoted towards Knives. Vash and Meryl slept in. They heard the front door open and close, signaling Milly's departure to work. Breakfast was waiting for them when they got up. Aside from the door that would need new hinges, everything seemed normal.

Milly's morning was turning out to be a text-book example of what should have happenen to Milly on any given workday. She headed out of the house with a smile on her face and a container of breakfast for Jim. The general store was her first destination, like always, to retrieve some pudding cups for later. She paid the clerk and chatted a bit about what was new in her life, but mostly she talked about what was constant. She left the store, but she didn't realize someone had overheard her conversation.

She didn't realize someone was following her.

She didn't realize that someone meant to do her harm.

She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight, and she turned around in time to see Knives standing in a crowd behind her. She watched him as he fluidly pulled a gun out of a stranger's holster. She watched as he began to fire the gun in her direction.

Knives smiled once the firearm was in his possession. It was a small object, but still contained the power over life and death. He looked at the spider and pointed the gun. He squeezed off a few rounds.

Blood splattered on Milly's face, she was covered in it, her eyes went wide with terror.

He shot a few more rounds, just to make sure the spider was as good as dead. He couldn't leave it wandering around in pain like that, now could he?

Milly saw him walking away as she sank to the ground. He tucked the gun back into the stranger's holster, the man completely befuddled. Nobody made a move to do anything. She didn't have the strength to do anything but stare.

Knives laughed to himself as he walked to the edge of town.

_What will you make of this, dear brother?_

_

* * *

_

A/N: Uh oh...bad Knives. Looks like an excellent moment for badassVash to pop out, doesn't it? Yes, I was thinking the same thing...

I feel a little better now, but I really need some fluff. Hey Pottachu! This would be a perfect time to update The Favor...:) Anyway, review please. The last chapter will be posted...soon...

Cliffhanger...MUAHAHAHAHAHA!


	14. the end

Vash and Meryl were finished with breakfast and Meryl had started on the dishes. Vash sat at the table with a cup of coffee reading the newspaper. Everything at that moment seemed to be completely correct.

And the next minute...something felt very wrong.

It was as if he'd suddenly remembered he'd forgotten to turn the oven off when he left the house, except that this feeling was a billion times worse. He started to panic. He stood up quickly, knocking the chair over, and ran up to Knives' room.

Meryl turned around at the sound of the chair hitting the floor to see Vash already halfway up the stairs. She was about to follow him up when she heard a knock on the door. She absentmindedly made her way to the door and opened it up to see one of Milly's co-workers. He looked like he'd run all the way there. He was doubled over and breathing hard, but when he saw Meryl, he tried as best he could to stand up straight. Meryl heard Vash charging down the stairs.

"Can...I help you?" she asked.

"...Milly...in town...shot..." the man huffed out.

Shot? What? Meryl felt like she was going to fall over, and she would have if Vash hadn't been standing behind her. He started asking all the questions she wanted answers to.

"Is she alright? Who did it? Was a tall blond there?"

The poor man looked like he was about to die. "Blond...yes...kinda like...you...she looked pretty bad...lots of blood..."

_Wait...was a tall blond there? Why would he ask that?_ she wondered. Meryl looked at Vash. She was fighting back tears and the frightened look on Vash's face didn't help her at all. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to her own question. "Where's...Knives?"

Vash's face just grew more frightened by the moment. All he could do was shake his head. Knives wasn't there.

Vash asked the man some more questions while Meryl went into action. She grabbed a few canteens and the keys to the jeep and pushed through the screen door. "Let's go!" she shouted at the worker as she basically threw a canteen at him. She stopped a moment to look at Vash. He looked like the entire weight of the world had been deposited directly on his shoulders. She knew what he was thinking about. She knew what he was going to have to do. She didn't know what to say to him except the obvious: "We're going to Milly."

Vash nodded silently as she left, aware of the promise he'd made to her, to Knives, to himself. He'd told himself things were different now and that he'd protect the ones he loved, even if that meant killing his own brother.

And now he had to prove it.

All levity drifted away from him as he solemnly pulled his gun from its holster. He checked the chamber: loaded. He counted out the six bullets. During the last fight, he'd run out of ammo, but that wouldn't be the case today. Knives was weak and his angel arms weren't working yet. Today, only one bullet would be needed.

He walked out of the house silently, hearing the sounds of the desert around him. There was no one to comfort him. Rem's voice didn't pipe up with any cheerful advice and the priest lent neither sarcasm nor encouragement. He saw the dirt trail the jeep had kicked up dissipate in the wind, leaving him completely alone. He hoped Milly was alright, but if he knew his brother at all, there was no chance for her survival.

Vash closed his eyes and turned his face toward the suns as he tried to locate where his brother was. His eyes snapped open as he felt a presence. It was moving away from town, but very slowly. He would have no trouble tracking him down.

As always, finding him would be the easy part.

With every step he took into the desert, he hated himself a little more, but this simply had to stop.

Meryl drove as fast as she could. She drove straight to the doctor's office in the center of town. The worker had regained his breath and had explained a little about the situation. It seemed that a shootout of some kind had occurred, but he wasn't sure who was involved. He had only seen Milly in the street with people surrounding her and a blond man walking away. He'd been with Mr. Jim. Jim had been the one to send the man to her house in the first place.

She practically jumped out of the jeep before it had come to a complete stop and ran up the steps of the doctor's office. The receptionist tried to greet her, but Meryl was way too panicked to exchange social niceties. She burst into the examination room to see two sets of curious eyes meet her frantic pair.

Before her, the doctor stood with a needle and thread in mid stitch. Milly was sitting up on the examination table with her arm on a towel. She was indeed covered with blood, but she was nowhere near dying. It must have been...someone else's blood. The doctor recognized Meryl and went on stitching up a painful looking, but absolutely non-lethal bullet wound in Milly's arm.

Meryl's head was spinning with relief. "What happened!"

"You wouldn't believe it!" Milly said, speaking as if she were dishing over coffee instead of over a bullet hole in her own body. "I was walking to work like normal when all of the sudden, I got a funny feeling like someone was watching me. I turned around to see Mr. Knives...and he had a gun. I thought I was done for -- "

Meryl interrupted. "Did he hurt you?" Meryl's eyes suddenly burned in anger.

Milly shook her head happily. "Nope! He didn't hurt me at all! In fact, I'm pretty sure...he protected me. He did shoot a man, and that man did die, but that man was after Mr. Vash and I have it on good authority that he and his gang were going to try to use me to lure Mr. Vash out. Can you imagine!" She looked down at the wound on her arm and then looked closely at Meryl. "I think...he saved my life. The man who shot me didn't look very friendly."

Meryl couldn't say anything. This was not the state of affairs she thought she'd be dealing with. She thought if she were lucky, she'd be holding her friend's hand as she took her lasts breaths. Now, instead of being relieved, she felt a strange sense of uneasiness.

Milly seemed to pick up on Meryl's emotions. "Believe me, I was pretty surprised when it happened, too, but I think Mr. Knives is changing. Mr. Vash will probably be really happy when he finds out!"

"Oh my god," was all Meryl could say. Vash had to be stopped. "Where's Knives right now?" she asked Milly.

Milly looked thoughtful. "I don't know, but Mr. Jim took off after him. I think he wants to thank him. I saw Jim running out into the desert to the east."

Meryl suddenly snapped impatiently at the doctor. "Sir, how long are these stitches going to take to finish?"

The doctor looked up from his work. "Don't be so persnickety, young lady. This here is the last one." She held her tongue as he finished the repair and then practically dragged Milly out the door. The doctor snapped about monetary reimbursement for services rendered.

"We'll come right back. This is an emergency!" Meryl shouted over her shoulder as she dragged Milly towards the car and took the driver's seat.

Milly saw her coworker and smiled. "Hey, Mr. Ted! What are you doing here?"

Meryl took over with her business voice. "I'm sorry, Ted, is it? You're going to have to stay in town. We're heading into a potentially dangerous situation." Milly looked questioningly at her as the words left Meryl's mouth. "Get in! We don't have much time!"

Milly buckled her seatbelt gingerly with her uninjured arm and looked at her friend. "Meryl, what's going on?"

Meryl peeled out of the driveway and threw the jeep into gear. "Vash thought Knives killed you. He's going to, 'take care of Knives,' as he puts it. We've got to stop him before he does something he'll never forgive himself for!"

Vash made his way doggedly across the desert. He came to the top of a dune and looked out. He saw his brother not fifty yarz away. He took a deep breath and thought about what he was about to do. He was about to do the one thing he'd sworn he wouldn't. But if he left Knives to his own devices and Knives decided to kill the innocent again...well...Vash couldn't stand that, either. He let the breath out and continued down the dune, determined to face his brother one final time.

Knives sensed him approaching and stopped. He turned around and waited for Vash. He saw the killing intent in his brother's eyes.

"You found me pretty quickly."

Vash took a deep breath, trying to hold back tears. "Did you really think I'd let you get away...after what you've done?"

Knives shook his head and looked down at the gun in Vash's hand. "...I don't know..."

"Knives, I'm not a coward." He took another breath, then shouted. "I just wish you didn't have to MAKE ME PROVE IT!"

Knives looked into his brother's eyes. "Somehow, I felt like I was doing the right thing this time..."

Vash almost dropped his gun in disbelief. How could Knives say something like that? He tightened his grip on the gun and pointed it at his brother, his own twin. "Am I...am I supposed to say something before I do this?"

Knives almost laughed. "It's traditionally accepted that the executioner ask the sentenced party if there are any last requests."

Vash clenched his jaw, thinking of all the things he'd wished for his relationship with his brother. All of those things would soon be impossible forever. "Any...last...requests?"

"Just one," Knives answered quickly and surely. "Let me in...just one last time?"

Vash knew instantly what Knives was talking about...the telepathic link they'd shared since birth...the same telepathic link Knives had taken advantage of several times to make Vash's angel arm fire against his will.

Vash shook his head. "I'm sorry. I just can't allow that."

Knives looked to be closer to tears than Vash had seen him since he was a child. "Then, I guess this is it. Goodbye, Vash." Knives slumped down to his knees suddenly. "You're the only person I'd let take my life."

Vash tried to keep his cool, but he was close to losing it. Was this something he was actually going to do? Would he be able to forgive himself if he did? Would he be able to forgive himself if he didn't? He concentrated on the images of those he loved: Rem, Wolfwood, and now Milly.

He had to do this.

The two brothers were focused entirely on each other. Somehow Knives couldn't hear anything except for the gun cocking. Somehow the only thing Vash could see was the spot on his brother's forehead that would cause the quickest and most painless death.

Knives never closed his eyes. He watched as Vash clenched his jaw one more time and raised the gun level to his head. He heard the gun go off at the same time a darkness fell upon him.

That was that.

Except...now the darkness moved... It sat up and Knives realized he hadn't been shot in the head. He touched his forehead just to make sure. He looked in front of him and realized someone was standing in between his brother and him. He had his arms spread wide, seemingly begging for mercy. The man was bleeding from the shoulder, most likely where the bullet meant for him had struck. He was momentarily disgusted that a human had been that close to him, but didn't think about it too long. Knives finally looked up at Vash's face and saw something he hadn't expected.

He could handle condescension.

He could handle cowardice.

But horror? Absolute and unadulterated horror? Vash hadn't looked like that since...since the Great Fall.

Somehow, everything happened silently. He didn't hear the man speaking, but Knives knew the man was pleading his case. He watched Vash as he dropped the gun in the sand and covered his open mouth with his now-empty hand. He watched as his brother turned and simply began to slowly walk out into the desert. He watched as a jeep pulled up and two female spiders jumped out. The larger one had its arm in a sling and its way toward him. The shorter one took a quick inventory of the situation and then stared in the direction Vash had gone. It didn't go to him. It stayed by the car and covered its face with its hands. It seemed to be crying.

He didn't know what to do.

The larger one was talking at him. It had a smile on its face, but he still didn't comprehend what was being said. The whole situation was incomprehensible. His own brother was going to kill him, and he was saved...by a spider...

He couldn't compute this sudden change of events. He suddenly stood up and began to walk in the direction he'd started out in. The world was still strangely silent. Suddenly the small spider ran in front of him and blocked his way. Sound suddenly began to filter in.

"Where are you going?" it asked quietly, angrily.

"What do you care?" he answered curtly.

"Don't you hear that?" it demanded and pointed in Vash's direction.

He stopped for a moment and cocked his head to the side. That sound...his brother was...screaming... His heart cracked at the sound. Was this what he'd been blocking out? "Why don't you go to him, then?" he tried to cover with typical callousness.

It wiped at its eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't FIX that!" It stomped in the sand to emphasize its point.

He looked over at his brother again and saw him rocking back and forth. He was still screaming, in obvious agony.

"Please," it said quietly, this time without the anger, "he needs his brother. Please go be his brother."

He sighed. She was right. Well, at least his brother's pet knew her place.

He walked out towards his twin and sat down beside him.

* * *

This is the end of this story. I hope you guys liked it. I hope I have some readers left... 


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